Contemplating
by DragonFire44
Summary: While on a mission Tobi and Deidara get attacked. Can Tobi prevent Deidara from dying? Or is he already too late? Rated M to be safe


Disclaimer – I do **not** own Shippuden and never will.

Warning – Light gore, death, no Akatsuki deaths. Light cussing.

**Note** – I wrote this when I was exceedingly tired… and around midnight and despite being super tired I could not sleep… so sorry if it's not tremendously good and such. This has gone through a few tweaks but nothing big.

And I know I should have been working on the next chapter of Hidden Underneath but lately I haven't had any motivation… I know what I want to do… I just have no desire to type it… But I will!

Edited by JJKMagic - Thanks :)

Contemplating

Deidara scoffed as he kicked lightly at the barren dirt path he was slowly walking down, thoroughly fed up. His temple was throbbing, and only continued to get worse as his idiotic partner continued merrily chattering away, occasionally stopping to hum an off tune that only made sense to him, as he skipped in front of him.

Why did _he _have to get stuck with the annoying, obnoxious dumbass?

Sure Sasori, his former partner was cruel and arrogant, which ultimately led to his death at the hands of two females but he certainly wasn't annoying or practically useless. Tobi was only good at running. At least that was all he'd seen from the masked nin so far.

But if Sasori hadn't been stupid and died, he wouldn't be stuck with Tobi… but unfortunately now he got stuck with Tobi.

But why couldn't Tobi be Zetsu's partner? Tobi had gone on plenty of scouting trips with the plant like male over the years, so why couldn't he just become a permanent partner to the yellow eyed male?

Oh right… because _he_ needed a partner and Pein wasn't about to waste his time looking for a skilled, willing shinobi.

_Fucking bastard…_

But considering they were actively searching for the tailed beasts now, Deidara figured it wouldn't be wise or easy to find a worthy new member.

Still that didn't mean he was happy with things.

Something clawed at his senses and he froze mid step, someone was nearby. He could _feel _it; the wind shifted a little, the overall atmosphere felt different, even if it was so very slight. But he wasn't an S ranked ninja for nothing.

Casually, slowly, he scrutinized his surroundings, momentarily ignoring his idiotic partner, who continued to skip down the dirt path, clearly oblivious to the hidden enemy in the surrounding trees. If it wouldn't, no doubt, attract suspicion he would have brushed his blond bang from his face to use his eye scope, the scope he'd made to help him beat the sharingan, to determine how many nins there were and their exact positions. But since he was certain that by doing so he'd alert the hidden nin (s) and would no doubt switch from stealth mode to attack mode.

Deidara bit his lip as he continued walking, debating the best method to deal with their hidden friends. Usually he wouldn't go to the trouble as he preferred to plan as he went along but he couldn't ignore the chance.

Perhaps he should wait for the unidentifiable nin to make the first move? Of maybe he could casually snake his mouthed hand into one of his clay pouches and prepare a bomb? The hidden male could easily mistake the move for a simple retrieving. Or it could pull the spring loose and cause an attack…

Deidara groaned low in irritation, his stupid headache certainly wasn't helping matters. While the pain was insignificant to him, his very high pain tolerance didn't mean it wasn't bothersome and inconvenient, let alone in the way.

Again, unbidden, his mind brought forth the word he'd been asking himself earlier, why? Why did he have to be stuck with Tobi?

Deidara shook his head a little, as his forehead creased. Now was _not_ the time to be harping on about the unchangeable.

Unfortunately that small moment of distraction was when the mystery nin decided to make his move. Deidara narrowly avoided the kuni sent his way but was not prepared, nor fast enough to avoid the swift kick to the side.

He was sent careening backwards, ramming into a thick, unrelenting tree. Growling lowly, his blue gaze landed on a heavily clothed male with shaggy dark brown hair. No visible forehead protector, telling him squat of the other's origin. But he didn't really care.

He glared murderously at the relatively young individual, his mouthed right hand slowly working its way to his gray clay pouch situated under his obligatory Akatsuki cloak.

So focused as he was on the new arrival, Deidara missed the abrupt stop of the masked nin, it wasn't until he shouted, "Senpai!" that Deidara was even aware that Tobi had _finally_ noticed that something was wrong.

Deidara didn't spare his annoying partner a glance, his keen gaze fixated on his attacker, his back pressed firmly against the hard trunk of the tree.

The male before him scoffed lightly as he raised a sharp, thin blade before him. The blade gleaming; like water hit by the light of sun.

Tobi took a threatening step towards the unwelcome nin, but before he could do anything else, the brown haired male, not wanting to be interrupted quickly produced several kuni and launched them at the stationary masked nin.

"Eeeiiii?" Tobi squealed, his body titling in an attempt to avoid the lethal weapons. So focused on them, he failed to notice the new wave until it was too late. A kuni embedded into his chest, the force sending him careening backwards, where a vain attempt to stay standing sent him tripping over a hedge and falling backwards as gravity took over.

He disappeared from sight, leaving the mystery nin to smirk smugly in satisfaction before returning his sole attention to the motionless blond.

_Tobi!_

Deidara shouted inwardly, not allowing the concern to be vocalized as he focused on Tobi's attacker with newly minted hate gleaming in his azure orb.

Unfortunately that was when the other struck.

Deidara jerked to the side, narrowly avoiding being impaled in a similar fashion as Tobi, but was nicked in the arm.

Cursing softly Deidara touched down on the solid earth, with complete focus on the other male. His hand finally succeeding in making it into his clay pouch, and with a malicious smirk at the coming entrancing colors and sound he pulled his hand out.

He side-stepped a swing as he set about chewing the clay so that he could mould it when his body froze. Jerkily, he wobbled before staggering back, colliding with a tree.

What…

The hell?

His throat constricted, as a massive burning heat wave swept through him, causing him to gasp repeatedly. His face paled, becoming clammy and sweat slowly inched its way down the side of his face. His vision blurred and his hearing dulled and no matter how much he struggled he couldn't get his body to respond.

Frantically he struggled for an answer, why this was happening… _how_ was this happening?

His head dipped and he tried to focus on the other male before the answer slammed into him.

His arm!

The cut from the sword, it must have been coated in poison.

"F-fu…k…" Deidara choked out.

Poison… of all the things, it had to be poison.

For a brief ephemeral moment he wished that Sasori hadn't died. The puppet master was also a poison master. He would, more than likely, have an antidote. But no, he was dead and he had Tobi.

"Only what you deserve." The brown haired male spat viciously, as he slowly made his way to the collapsed ex rock nin. Oh how he had longed for this day. A wide happy grin spreading across his lightly tan face, as he stopped a few paces away. To think it took so many years to track down the blond, the one responsible for killing his father.

Oh he remembered that day so well.

He had gotten into an argument with his father, who wanted him to show more effort and pride in his job of helping with the farm, but he had been seven, and only wanted to play.

He shirked his duties and finally all the pent-up emotions had exploded out of him. His father less the pleased struck him and he had fled.

After calming down and getting over the cruelty of the world he had gone into the town where he knew his father would be as he was almost always there on Thursdays around noon.

The vile thief, who owned a good portion of the village, was often stealing from the farm, grain, stock and the like.

He had been about to run up to his father when a loud, deafening explosion rocked the area. Smoke and blood appearing after and a swishing sound caused him to look up into the gray covered cloud where he spotted long blond hair with a slashed headband bearing the rock symbol.

Scared shouts erupted, imbedding into his memory, "Akatsuki!"

His father had died in that explosion. His father had died thinking he hated him.

His hands tightened around the hilt of his sword as he glared hatefully at the one responsible.

It had taken him so many years to master the art of being a swordsmen and finding the elusive Akatsuki nin. But he had done it. He had finally gotten revenge.

He raised his sword intent on dealing the final blow, only to be slammed to the ground from the side. A foot pressed into his face, trying to make him one with the ground.

"What did you do to Deidara?"

A cold chill slid down his spine at the deep, dark velvety tone and he struggled to turn, to see who was pinning him.

"Answer me!" The dark, deep voice snapped.

Pain shot through his head and he quivered out, "J-just poison!" He didn't want to die after just getting his revenge. He squirmed, and wiggled, just barely managing to tilt his head enough to look at his attacker and gaped.

"Y-you!" Shock and surprise tingeing his voice. "Y-you should be dead!" The poisoned kuni should have killed him!

Tobi chuckled darkly, but no amusement was there. This man had harmed Deidara, and almost killed him! He would die!

"Give me the antidote." Tobi demanded sharply, ignoring the pained words.

The pinned male coughed, before sputtering out, "There is none!" He hadn't bothered to buy one since it was solely to be used on the blond.

Tobi glared from behind his spiraled mask, but decided not to press the issue. Even if he had been given a vial, presuming it to be the antidote would have been foolish. He had no way of knowing for sure if it would indeed be the correct substance.

Sure he could use a genjutsu, make him talk, it certainly wouldn't take more than a minute but staring down into the pale brown orb, and he knew the other was telling the truth.

He pushed more weight onto his foot and with a strangled cry, the teen's head crushed inwards killing him instantly. If he had the time he would have made him suffer.

Swiftly, he spun towards the fallen artist.

"Senpai?" He called out softly, hesitantly as he kneeled in front of the still form.

The blond's gasps had faded to a quiet hum. When he didn't receive acknowledgment, Tobi quickly scooped the poisoned teen up, cradling him tightly against his firm chest.

Deidara moaned lowly in pain as he felt a sudden shift, the pain spiking. His head lolled, settling against a solid object, leaving him certain that he'd been picked up.

But by who?

Distantly he heard the words, "You'll be fine Senpai. I'll make sure of it." as he passed out.

Tobi hurriedly made his way to the village, which luckily hadn't been too far from them when they had been attacked. He could always teleport back to the hideout, he was sure that there would be some kind of antidote, seeing as how they had kept Sasori's stash. But the trip could cause the poison's spread to quicken and he dared not risk it.

After securing a hotel room, Tobi gently placed the unconscious teen on the bland sheet. At least it looked clean. He quickly unhooked the Akatsuki cloak and carefully worked the clothing off, trying not to jar the blond too much. Once off he tossed it to the side, not sparing it another glance.

He focused instantly onto the thin cut on the left arm, his mind working fast, contemplating the best and surest way to get rid of most of the poison, to minimize most of the potency.

After a few moments too long, in his opinion, he retrieved a kuni and guided the tip to the cut and with no hesitation dug the kuni into the cut. Blood gushed forth, trickling down the limp arm and onto the bed, quickly staining the bland sheet.

He hoped that the poison hadn't entered too far into Deidara's system and he could purge the substance out. A distant part of his brain wondered if sucking the wound would help… perhaps if he'd gotten to the injury right away… If this didn't work, he would give sucking a try.

But he hadn't jumped in, certain that Deidara would be fine. After all he didn't want to reveal himself just yet but that had proved to be a mistake. Hopefully it wasn't too late to stop the poison. Only time would tell.

After draining blood from the unconscious male for a few minutes he tore off two pieces of the sheet at the end of the bed, one he used to wipe the arm clean as best as possible, the other he wrapped tightly around the injury.

Unbuttoning his cloak he slip out of the garb, letting it drop onto the dirty floor. Crawling onto the medium sized bed, Tobi settled down next to the teen. Lightly he brushed the blond bang from Deidara's face, noting the clammy pallor had decreased a little and the light flush was no longer so prominent. The artist's breathing even sounded better. It was no longer raspy and wheezy.

Feeling some of the fear drain, Tobi lightly wrapped a black clad arm around the thin frame and buried his masked face into the long blond hair. Closing his eye, he listened to the uneven breathing in the still, dark room.

Listening… making sure that Deidara's breathing did not fail as he waited till morning. If Deidara could make it till then, he would be fine.

~88

Swallowing thickly, tightly, Deidara groaned lowly as he became aware of a dull throb of pain. He was cold and tired and he hurt.

Why? Deidara struggled to work his sluggish, fogged brain but found himself far too exhausted. A part of him became aware of warmth on one side and slowly, painfully he shifted onto his side, towards the warmth. He pressed himself snuggly into the object and swiftly found himself pulled back to sleep, as the aching chill slowly subsided.

~88

As Deidara came to, he realized he was on a bed… and if he was on a bed then… he was not where he last remembered being, which was…

He'd been walking… in a forest…

His eyes snapped open as he instantly recalled the brown haired male and the poison.

Damn him…

Wait…

If he was here and alive…

It was then that he realized that the warmth he was pressed into was a person. Angling his head enough so that he could see his mouth fell open as he caught sight of a flash of orange.

_Tobi!_

But… but he died… the kuni! How could Tobi be alive? He'd been hit in the chest by a sharp metal object… there's no way he could have possibly survived…

Yet the body was most assuredly solid, most certainly Tobi… Tobi was really _alive_.

And that meant that Tobi saved him…

The dumbass…

Deidara pressed his face farther into the defined chest and snaked his bandaged arm around the taller male, clenching tightly to the dark shirt.

Not sure if the masked nin was awake, Deidara rasped softly, almost inaudibly, "T-tobi un?"

For a moment silence reigned before the annoying nin shifted, a gloved hand tangling and running smoothly through long blond locks.

"Yes Senpai?"

Deidara's lip quivered at the childish tone, even though it was severely toned down, unusual but not impossible.

"H-how d-di…" Deidara struggled to speak, his voice weak, raspy and his words died down with a low irritated grunt.

"Tobi killed him." Tobi supplied, not overly sure what the artist was trying to ask but figured it had to do with the unnamed attacker.

Deidara shook his head stiffly, lightly as his fingers fisted tighter into the dark material, "N-no… y-you…" Deidara broke off as a coughing fit hit him, his eyes squeezing tight as he waited for the spell to pass.

Tobi removed his hand from the golden hair, trailing down to the slender back and lightly yet firmly rubbed soothing circles hoping to help ease the coughing.

The coughs silenced and Tobi uttered, "The kuni only grazed Tobi."

Deidara frowned, he'd been sure that the kuni had pierced Tobi's chest… But it wasn't impossible that he had imagined it… Did it matter?

Deidara's forehead creased as he let out a heavy breath, no it did not. Tobi was here and _alive_ and that's all that mattered.

The arm around him tightened a little, and a part of him was a little weirded out that he was wrapped up in Tobi's strong arms, but another was content, Tobi was warm… and… _safe._

Still…

Deidara squashed the urge to look up; all he would see would be the orange spiraled mask and parted his dry mouth. But before he could say anything, the raven beat him to it, uttering softly, yet reverently with a small amount of elation tingeing his tone, "Tobi's glad you're okay, Senpai. Tobi was worried…"

A frown marred Deidara's features has he pondered the words and the tone, so unlike Tobi. In the back of his brain, a part of him was beginning to doubt that the male holding him slightly possessively was really Tobi.

He shook his head lightly, trying to dispel the absurd notion. No one in their right mind would wear an orange mask and hold him like this, if they were pretending to be the idiotic male. Furthermore they wouldn't act differently from Tobi as it would be a dead giveaway.

No… this was Tobi, strangely enough.

Shooing his musing to the side, Deidara returned to the words and asked tentatively, "Why?" Why had Tobi been worried… why was he _glad?_

Sure he knew Tobi liked him somewhat, as he was always calling him 'Senpai', vying for his attention and being considerate and nice most of the time. But they were ninjas, it was a given fact that they could die in battle at any time…

His musing derailed at the light, slightly deep chuckle that caused a light flush to flare across his face and a chill down his spine. This was certainly different from all of Tobi's previous laughs…

"That's a silly question, Senpai." Light amusement colored the somewhat deeper tone. And Deidara wondered about the sudden change in Tobi, or had he always been like this? And he had simply never noticed? Simply never perceived that there was more to Tobi then he displayed… It was strange and slightly unfathomable to think that Tobi was smarter than he portrayed.

Deidara stayed silent, hoping Tobi would elaborate. His patience payed off, as Tobi murmured, "I care about you Senpai, a lot."

Deidara blinked startled, he shouldn't be so surprised to hear the words, he had been aware that Tobi cared a little about him but to hear the words, the depth behind them was more potent than he imagined.

Why?

Why did Tobi care about _him?_ What did he _see_ in him? He had always shunned the cheery male, sprouting off insults and throwing bombs at the other when he severed his thin patience… yet Tobi had _always_ come back. Always trying to worm closer…

And why? Because he cared about him? Even after he'd been treated so poorly…

Anger surged and Deidara couldn't help but shout, "Why!? Why do you care?"

_What do you see in me that I don't?_

Despite the frown marring his hidden features, Tobi re-tangled his gloved hand in the long golden tresses and began running his fingers smoothly, comfortably through.

"Why?" Tobi reiterated, while raising his pinned arm he shifted the mask up and stated with adamant certainty, "Because I love you."

Deidara froze at the words but before he could contemplate them or much of anything, Tobi yanked his head back gently by his hair and pressed his now visible mouth against his. The second their lips connected, Deidara jolted a part of his brain returning to function and he couldn't help but marvel at the feel.

He'd never been kissed before… it was a pleasant experience. But before he could decide to kiss back, Tobi pulled away, a light smirk flowing across his pale face as a light sheen of red swept blatantly across his face, no matter how hard he tried to push it down.

Loved… him?

Tobi loved _him?_

That was more than just cared for… and oddly a strange warm feeling crept through him.

That didn't really answer his 'why' though… How could Tobi love him after everything… or was that it… was that the answer.

Love.

Tobi loved him so, that love didn't change how he felt despite how he had been treated and Deidara couldn't help but find that somewhat inspiring. Love could _really_ be that strong?

He knew that he didn't feel the same way… not yet but despite his constant moaning and bitching over having Tobi as his partner, the masked nin had wormed his way into his heart. He cared enough about Tobi that he didn't want the older male to die.

And as some say, that was the first step to loving someone.

~ End

So this didn't end the way I wanted… but it was no longer working with me…,

The idea for Dei getting poisoned was from another Tobi/Dei fic and I wanted more focus on the poison and from Tobi's view so I wrote this. Unfortunately Tobi didn't stay focused on for long; I simply find it easier to write from Dei's perspective…

May do a sequel


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